gemfyre | Some girls need a lotta lovin' and some girls don't...

Storm came through this morning. Woke to a lovely breeze (which was actually more a gale) and sat in it for a few minutes before retreating to my room. Then the rain began. About an hour later in the shadehouse everyone jumped a mile as the loudest crack I've ever heard occured overhead. My GOD it was loud! Brian told me it reminded him of times in air-raid shelters when he was 4 years old.

Almost stepped on a Stimpson's Python last night right near my bedroom. Lucky it wasn't the King Brown that apparently was hanging out on the other side of the building eating an unfortunate frog.

Clive - The main leader of the expedition. Hard of hearing, British. Most of the socks from the expedition's communal washing end up in his drawer.

Peter - Another leader. Sarcastic English bastard. He takes a little getting used to, but after you realise that he isn't REALLY angry despite his constant griping and complaining he's pretty amusing. His book which briefly the birds that pop up on bird log is also good for a giggle.

Nick - English gentleman. Unfortunately so old English that he makes slightly derogatory comments about "The blacks" until corrected. He just doesn't seem to know any better.

Brian - Also British. Survived a car crash and lives with insulin dependant diabetes. Pretty impressive what he manages despite all that.

Chris - ANOTHER pommie! He actually lives here in Broome and is very knowledgable about the place and the birds. He and Ady have seen quite a few rarities for the area. He was once warden here at the BBO.

Ady - Rings every evening just before 5pm to check the condition of the road (he drives a Suzuki Swift) and to ask if Chris (the assistant warden, not Chris listed before Ady) wants to go look for red-rumped swallows. The answer to that is usually yes. Ady is cool.

Alice - Despite being pretty much completely deaf (but a good lip reader) this chick has almost finished her honors and is currently conducting a study on waders, which is the main reason she's here. She's 23 and great with both waders and bush birds.

Gillian - She's from New Zealand but has a strong American accent. She's also been to China and other places studying waders. She's just a nice person to chat to.

Frank - Frank is a South-wester like me. We met once before when I went on his pelagic bird trip. After getting to know him a little better I've found he's very helpful with things as mundane things as cleaning the shadehouse to identifying bizarre frogs and skinks.

Geet - I guess Geet is about my age but a heck of a lot more mature and capable. She's been in charge of feeding this lot. I don't know how she does it. She's also one of the people who often twinkles the birds while netting.

These things appear on whiteboards and pinup board around the place. Some I find quite witty, while some are just cringeworthy. No, a woodpecker has never actually been sighted at the Broome Bird Observatory - imagine the commotion if one was!

My faves are bolded.

Flocks seen on tours

A run-out of petrels
A string of knots
A reign of kingfishers
A tangle of knots
A confusion of curlews
A can of rosellas
A shimmer of stints
A gossip of babblers
A chamberpot of nightjars
A wave of waders
A twice-shy of bitterns
A rapture of raptors
A library of boobooks
A beach of sanderlings
A sorrow of egrets
A Ford of Falcons
A fleet of frigatebirds
A chatter of chats
A handful of boobies
A parliament of drongoes
A rate of knots
A jar of honeyeaters
A crossing of zebra finches
A brook of babblers
A construction of cranes
An asylum of cuckoos
A meating of butcherbirds
A bookshelf of boobooks
A jumpjet of harriers
A fistful of dollarbirds
A Howard of lyrebirds
A headache of Herons
A U of terns
A lather of Dove
A speed of swifts
A hood of robins
A crack of whipbirds
A piste of parrots
A babel of babblers
An abbey of friarbirds
A hairpin of terns
A spit of swallows
A kennel of barking owls
A division of riflebirds

Birds seen on tours

Greyshank
Ruddy turncoat
Black-faced crow
Mud sampling puffin
White-winged whiskered tern
Bar-tailed nitwit
Unleaded petrel
Itchy thrush
Specific gull
Non-keen night owl
Mick Jaeger
Bushed & stoned curlew
Quiet chat
Very gay fairy wren
Tree martian
Taykitin terns
Lazy bustard
As-you-are kingfisher
Pair of grins
Pair of green falcons
Barn dance swallow
Dean martin
Tittle tattler
Crimson beefeater
Royal forkbill
Ruthless whistler
Cross-barred dimwit
Grey pullover
Industrial crate
Aged dowager
Japanese sniper
Double-breasted pullover
Nasty tern
Reef knot
Chilled wren
Little stink
Babbler Striesand
Stumble quail
Humpback quail
Scrawny frogmouth
Lousy whistler
Outlet nightjar
Wedding bower bird
Listless flycatcher
Gullible tern
Capsicum tern
Hooded robber
Hand rail
Comic tern
What knot
Brether wren
Left tern
Australian raving
Sat-on bowerbird
Scared kingfisher
Outfora duck
Petrified woodpecker
Bob Hawke
Bare faced liarbird
Fussiole chook

I can sleep in tomorrow! Yay for days off. Tomorrow I should try to get to the netting. And Saturday I'm possibly heading to Anna Plains with Ricki. Yay!